


New Beginnings

by Jcapasso916



Series: New Beginnings [1]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6139525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow Quentin Coldwater as he gets his start at a prestigious university for magic, and learns that the real magic has little to do with spells and more to do with falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a Magicians fic, but this ship just won't leave me alone lol. I hope you guys like it.

Quentin found himself suddenly exiting the dark gloomy streets of New York into a bright meadow filled with sunshine and clear skies and had to pause for a moment to adjust to the sudden change. He had simply been chasing after a page from his new manuscript and he took a moment to wonder if he had somehow stepped through a portal to another world. Or perhaps his new medications were stronger than he had expected. Either way, he wasn’t about to turn back now. 

He walked across the perfectly manicured lawn, spotting someone lying atop a marbled wall. The man took a long drag of his cigarette as he turned to look at him and Quentin suddenly found himself more tongue tied than usual. He had never been attracted to a man before, but he couldn’t see this person as a man anyway. That’s not to say he was too effeminate to be a man, but rather that he seemed more than a man. More than human. He had an ethereal quality about him. As if he could, and would, simply disappear in a puff of smoke. 

The man slowly sat up and looked down at a card in his hand. “Quentin Coldwater?” he asked distastefully. 

Quentin wanted to ask what was wrong with his name. Wanted to ask a hundred things really, but all that came out was a breathless, “Uh-huh.”

The man hopped down from the wall and strutted over to him so that he was nearly right on top of Quentin before looking him up and down and drawling, “I’m Eliot. You’re late.” Eliot turned to walk away saying, “Follow me.” It wasn’t really in Eliot’s nature to be so brusque but there was little point in making conversation and god forbid coming to like the guy if he was just going to flunk the entrance exam. On the off chance that he made it, like so few do, he would make friends then. He couldn’t deny that the scruffy little guy was cute after all. 

“Um..okay…um…hey…uh…Where am I?” Quentin stuttered out trying to keep up with Eliot’s long strides. 

“Upstate New York,” Eliot said shortly. 

“Upstate…but I was just…okay…hey…what is this place?” Quentin just couldn’t seem to get his bearings and was probably coming off as a fool, but who could blame him really given the circumstances. 

“Brakebills University. You’ve been offered a preliminary exam for entry into the graduate program,” Eliot said as if it should be obvious, slightly stressing the word preliminary. 

“Am I hallucinating?” He finally managed to get something out without stuttering. 

Eliot stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly. “If you were, how would asking me help?” he asked wryly and rather amused. Quentin couldn’t help a slight shrug at that. He had a point. “Come on. Or you’ll miss it,” Eliot said as he turned back to keep walking, leaving Quentin to hurry along behind him. No more words were exchanged after that as they rushed into the exam room, and upon entering Eliot pointed him to the open chair and looked towards the front of the room raising his hands as if to say that it wasn’t his fault as he rushed back out of the room. 

It took Quentin a few minutes to be able to focus on the test as he had trouble getting the encounter out of his head, but he finally managed and actually managed to secure a place at a school for magic. He still wasn’t completely sure if his meds were off or if this was really happening, but he was going to go with it. It was everything he’d ever dreamed of, after all. 

Quentin got to the room he was assigned to only to find the scary guy that he had been sitting next to in the exam. He really hoped that it was a mistake, but it turned out that this was his roommate. Just before a confrontation started he was once again rescued by Eliot’s timely appearance and this time he had a girl in tow. “This is the interruption you’ve been waiting for,” he announced as he entered. 

The girl said a seductive, “Hi. I’m Margo,” before looking him up and down appraisingly. “This is him,” she smirked as she fondled his tie and hummed appreciatively. “He’s not that cute,” she said with another smirk towards Eliot as she spun on her heel and walked out with a grin. 

Quentin took a moment to let that sink in. Eliot had apparently been talking about him and even said he was cute? He noticed the sheepish half-smile Eliot gave him as he followed Margo out and gestured for Quentin to come along. Eliot and Margo gave him a tour of the campus and explained how things worked, pointing out the different disciplines as they passed them practicing in the courtyard, and not that Eliot would ever admit it, showing off a bit for the new first year. 

A bit of a damper was put on the fun as two students in a daze stumbled past them and they told Quentin of the mystery of the disappearing third year class. Eliot made a not very good effort to make Quentin feel better, but must have realized that it was a lost cause as he said, “Enough of the maudlin blah. Let’s go find something magic to smoke.”

Quentin followed, not quite sure what was going on with Eliot and Margo. They acted like they were together, hanging on each other and being all seductive, but he was sure that Eliot was gay. He eventually shrugged it off. He was sure he would figure it out in time, and it’s not like he’d ever have a chance with the older boy anyway. He was so far out of Quentin’s league that he might as well have been on another planet altogether. 

He spent the afternoon hanging out with them and was surprised that he felt like they actually wanted to be his friends. He had loved Julia and James. Really. But he had always felt more like a third wheel and a charity case with them. Like he wasn’t really friends with them, they just let him tag along and tried to fix him at every turn. Eliot and Margo just seemed to accept him as is and it was nice. It wasn’t something Quentin had ever experienced before and he was relishing it. 

Maybe that’s why he didn’t feel the need to stick up for Alice when they were talking about her. Of course, that may have been his jealousy as much as anything else and it’s not like they said anything al that bad. He’d had worse said to his face on a regular basis. He did track Alice down later to apologize anyway once he realized she may have overheard, but his heart wasn’t really in it. 

The next day, he had gotten a mass of worried e-mails from James so went to the one payphone at the school to call him and see what was going on. He knew that he should be more worried about what he’d said about Julia, but when he caught sight of Eliot and Margo, frolicking across the lawn towards him he couldn’t help the tender smile the blossomed on his face. He turned away and tried to keep a concerned tone in his voice as he asked what happened, but got no details anyway. He gave a vague half-promise to be at Julia’s party as he hung up and Eliot and Margo reached him. 

They seemed excited about going to a party, but Quentin wasn’t sure that was a good idea. He was a loser and a freak out there and part of him was afraid that seeing him in that environment would open their eyes to that fact. They were persistent though and reminded him that he’d never find the school again without help, so he agreed to let them come. 

When the time came for the party Eliot couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding. Quentin obviously hadn’t wanted them to come, but he was right about him not finding his way back, so he just kept his distance and spent the evening playing with Margo. He kept a close eye on Quentin though and could see how out of place he felt here. Eliot would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel out of place too, but he had long learned to smother that feeling and hide it behind layers of confidence and joviality. Quentin would learn too in time, though he would likely choose different masks. 

Eliot saw how carefully his friends treated him, like they were afraid that he would break, and couldn’t keep the annoyance from bubbling up, which is why when Quentin came back in from talking to Julia outside, looking a little wrecked, they said nothing about leaving, despite the early hour. They were plenty drunk and high by that point anyway so it wasn’t exactly a wasted night. Eliot could honestly say that he didn’t like Quentin’s friends at all, despite having not even formally met them, but then that could have something to do with the way Quentin had looked at the girl. 

They made it back to the school, and life went on. Quentin easily became the third person of Eliot and Margo’s clique, but unlike with James and Julia, he never felt like the third wheel, despite how much they hung all over each other. Eliot hung over him nearly as much, so he just figured that it was the way Eliot was and didn’t think any more about it.


	2. Chapter 2

Eliot pushed down the panic he felt when he found out that the first year class had been attacked. He rushed over to the building as soon as they were free and breathed a sigh of relief as he wrapped an arm around Quentin’s shoulders saying, “Good to see you kid.” He could see even from a distance how tense and on edge he was. Even more so than usual and that was saying something. He didn’t even notice Alice standing there too and Margo taking her under her wing. 

“It’s okay…we’re just…” Quentin started to say. 

“I am gonna get you a nice drink,” he said soothingly before making an attempt at a joke. “Jesus. You didn’t tell me you were dangerous.” He noticed that it didn’t come off very well, but let it go. He counted it as a win that he didn’t betray his fear so he wasn’t going to quibble over details. 

Eliot was glad that Margo knew him better than anyone in the world, and quickly pulled Alice away to give him some time alone with Quentin. It wasn’t something that happened often, usually because with only the three of them, one of them leaving for something might look strange. Eliot found himself hoping that Alice would become a normal fixture for that reason alone. 

Eliot made them drinks and led Quentin out to the patio, where the first year paced as he spilled his guts about what they had done in summoning the creature in the first place. Quentin didn’t know why he was spilling his deepest secret, but he trusted Eliot completely despite not having known him for very long, and Eliot soon proved why. There was no judgement or recrimination. Maybe a bit of incredulity at the idiocy of what they had done, but that was to be expected. 

Eliot could tell that Quentin was beating himself up over this so he tried to make him feel better by pointing out that everyone screws up sometimes, and the missing third year class was just one example of that, but it wasn’t working.

Quentin started to speak a few times and Eliot could tell that he was struggling to say whatever he was trying to say. “Before I got here I was in the hospital. I have…well I had…I don’t know…uh…this thing that I couldn’t shake where I felt like because nothing was ever gonna not be pointless and empty, then…uh…why go on.” Eliot carefully schooled his face not to react to that. It wasn’t like it wasn’t a common story. He had heard it a dozen times. This time was different though. The idea of Quentin being there bothered him more than he cared to admit. Quentin wasn’t done talking though. “Then I got here and it’s amazing that I survived as long as I did not knowing that I was a magician.” Eliot couldn’t help the smirk and nod at that. “I can’t go back,” he said desperately working himself up into a panic. 

“So…okay…There’s a spell…uh…if they question you so they can’t read your minds. I’ll write it down,” he said with a humorless laugh trying to make it seem like no big deal. “It’s bulletproof.”

“Thank you,” Quentin said relieved as he finally went to sit. “Can you just help me live with myself?”

Eliot suppressed the sigh that tried to escape as he looked anywhere but at Quentin. “Okay…I’m gonna tell you something deep and dark and personal now. Ready. Good. I killed someone.” He couldn’t believe that he was telling him this. There was only one person in the entire world who knew the tragedy that had led to his discovery of his powers and here he was spilling the whole story to someone he had only known for a week. He wasn’t completely unable to keep the emotion and regret from his voice as he explained, but he thought he managed pretty well under the circumstances. 

“If you’re trying to tell me it gets better…”

“Oh no. God no. It doesn’t. I’m trying to tell you…you are not alone here.” Quentin couldn’t help but feel better at those words. People had been telling him that most of his life, but this was the first time he ever actually believed it. “Funny little irony they don’t tell you. Magic doesn’t come from talent. It comes from pain,” Eliot told him seriously, making full eye contact for the first time since he began his little confession. 

While Eliot did help him feel better, he was still beyond nervous when he, along with Alice, Penny, and Kady, were called in to be questioned over the incident. When Penny threw him under the bus, he was flooded with so many emotions he could barely pick them out. Terror, sorrow, and anger to name a few. He was headed to turn in his books when Eliot caught up to him. “You’ve heard I assume? Word travels fast when your life’s over,” Quentin said despondently. 

“Don’t say that,” Eliot said quickly as he moved in front of Quentin blocking his way. He remembered what Quentin had implied about ending his own life and couldn’t bear the thought. He found himself in the odd position of being both speechless and afraid as Quentin went on a rant about whether or not it was better not to know. 

Quentin realized that he was acting like a child and should be moving on. If there was one good thing about his memory being wiped it was that he wouldn’t have to worry about trying to get over Eliot. He wouldn’t even remember him, but that was the part that was killing him the most. He brushed by him and said, “You do not have to make me feel better. We basically just met.”

Eliot kept up with him though. “Well I bond fast. Time is an illusion,” he said trying to stay calm before he jumped in front of Quentin again, starting to lose that battle. “Look. Don’t go out there and be the old you.”

“How Eliot? I go back out here and I…I’m a depressed supernerd,” he said hopelessly. 

“How about I find you, and I don’t say magic is real, but I do seduce you and so lift your spirits that life retains its sparkle for decades,” he said wistfully looking off into the distance. This was why he didn’t want to get close in the beginning, before Quentin took the exam. There was just something about him that drew Eliot in like a moth to flame and he could tell even then. 

Quentin did his best not to show a reaction to that idea, sure that Eliot wasn’t serious, as he managed to say evenly, “That sounds nice. Thank you.” Quentin gave a last ditch effort, hoping that Eliot knew of some kind of tip or trick to avoid having to forget all this. To forget Eliot. Unfortunately, Eliot didn’t know of anything and finally let Quentin go, feeling there was nothing more he could say and went to drown his sorrows as usual, while Quentin continued on his way to return his books. 

On his way out, Quentin ran into Penny and they finished the altercation that had started the day they met landing them both in the infirmary, though in Penny’s case it was more of a precaution. Quentin had been the only one hurt and wasn’t that just insult on top of injury. He stole Penny’s spell repellant, not even bothering to remember what it was called, as he went into his meeting with the ‘specialist’ that was to wipe his memory. 

He had no idea what happened in that meeting, how he managed to get out of being expelled, but she had somehow been talked around to giving him another chance, even though he did very little talking at all. He wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth though and got out of there as quickly as he could before she changed her mind. His first stop should have been his dorm to drop off his bags, but his only thought was seeing Eliot, letting him know that he was still there and reminding himself that he was too, so bags in hand he headed to the cottage. 

He heard Eliot and Margo in the backyard and paused at the side of the house to watch for a minute, unable to wipe the smile from his face. Eliot noticed him and Quentin saw the smile that lit up his face as he waved him over, and Quentin couldn’t help the grin that broke out on his own as he started trudging towards them. They both jokingly told him to hurry up, and he could tell they were drunk, but then he had known that Eliot would be from the second he had left him in the courtyard while Quentin was walking towards his fate. Eliot may have eaten his feelings as a kid, but nowadays he drank them instead. He dropped his bags by the porch and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Eliot and Margo, easily his two best friends. He may have only known them a week, but they were far better friends then Julia and James had ever been.


	3. Chapter 3

While Quentin was a little disappointed not to have a discipline, he looked at the bright side. He got to live in the cottage with. If he had a discipline and it wasn’t physical, then he would have to be elsewhere and he already knew the cottage backwards and forwards from spending so much time there with Eliot and Margo these last couple months. He knew that he should see about making new friends. He knew that his obsession with Eliot would come to light sooner or later and their friendship would crash and burn. Eliot wasn’t exactly the type to be shy about going after what he wanted, so if he wanted Quentin then he would have made a move by now. Alice had also been assigned to the cottage, so he decided to start there. He was familiar enough with it to help her settle in and maybe that would loosen her up a bit around him. 

Eliot looked up hopefully when a hole opened in the front door as the new physical kids made their grand entrance. He grinned when the first thing he saw was Quentin’s face looking through the hole and swung his feet to the floor and staggered off the couch, grabbing drinks for he and Alice as they came in. “Welcome to our gracious abode,” he slurred, swaying on his feet as he handed the sickly looking green drinks to the newcomers and headed back to Margo. He expected Quentin to follow him, but he sat on the couch next to Alice, so Eliot just shrugged and cuddled up with Margo. He knew that Alice wasn’t very fond of them, so supposed it was natural that Quentin would want to make her feel comfortable their first night here. 

Eliot spent most of the evening gazing longingly at Quentin though and Margo would have to have been blind not to notice. “You and your first year boys,” she said with a smirk. “What’s your obsession with the flavor of the month?” she asked despite knowing that this one was different. She just wanted to get him to admit it. 

“Aww come on. He’s a high-strung super-nerd. We love those,” he said lazily looking up at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the object of his affections. Margo just rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure if he was lying to her or himself, but she let it go for now and set her mind to scheming. 

 

A few days later, when Eliot noticed a book missing from the cottage library he went to Quentin first. In his defense, Margo wasn’t much for books so Quentin was the obvious choice, but that didn’t change the fact that Quentin was now as much in his confidence as Margo was. He interrupted a conversation with Alice, making his hasty apologies to the girl as he grabbed Quentin’s arm hauling him out of his seat. He gave Quentin a moment to finish his conversation, keeping a firm grip around his shoulders as though he were afraid the Quentin would run away at the first opportunity. Almost before he was finished speaking, Eliot grabbed Quentin’s hand and pulled him towards the back, explaining the problem they had with the missing book and why it was such a problem. 

Quentin didn’t really care so much about the parties and if they were shut down it wouldn’t be the end of the world for him, but he knew that Eliot did care. A lot. So he would, of course, help in any way he could and they set out into the city looking for the mate to the remaining volume. When they found the bodega where the hedgewitches camped and Eliot mentioned getting a blow-job in return for a spell, Quentin buried the spark of jealousy he felt. He knew it was ridiculous. He probably hadn’t even known Eliot then, and it’s not like they were together or anything even now so it shouldn’t matter what Eliot did. Except it did matter, and Quentin hated it. 

They made it through, Eliot giving some sort of code at the door and were buzzed into the backroom. Quentin wasn’t sure what shocked him more. The fact that they were doing magic and making it work or the fact that they were struggling with things that he learned in the first week of class. When Julia came around the corner though, Quentin’s shock hit a whole new level. He couldn’t believe that she had fallen in with this crowd. 

When Quentin tried to say that they were friends, Eliot quickly tried to cover that fact up, by announcing proudly that they were from Brakebills as he looked distastefully at the hedgewitch. He hadn’t liked her before, but that feeling was just growing now. Eliot smirked as they tried to lie and say that they didn’t have the book, even as it was already winging its way down to its mate. The hedgewitches seemed so surprised to see two books going at it, which just proved how pathetically inferior they were when it came to magic. “Love wins,” Eliot said smugly as he went to scoop the books back into the box and they headed out. 

And of course she had to follow them. “Hey! So that’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say to me?” she asked offended as she caught up with them in the alley. 

“Don’t talk to her. Keep going,” Eliot warned, even as Quentin was turning to face her. Eliot wanted to drag Quentin out of there, all the way back to Brakebills if he had to, but restrained himself. He stood back some ways, giving them the illusion of privacy and leveling a glare at her the entire time. At least Quentin had some sense and was berating her for her choices. When Quentin started in on how talented the people at Brakebills were Eliot couldn’t help the smug smirk from blossoming across his face. His comment about her doing a party trick was pretty harsh, but no less true and she definitely wouldn’t have any sympathy coming from Eliot. He did realize at that point that this was going to be a while so he rolled his eyes and set the box down while he waited and lit a cigarette. 

Eliot was glad to hear him pointing out the way she treated him. He had been afraid that Quentin hadn’t noticed what was so obvious to him within minutes of seeing them together. He suppressed his wince when he started in on how he felt about her, and comforted himself with the fact that he had used the past tense. He almost felt bad for her after her little speech about magic being part of her soul. Almost. But finally Quentin was finished with the little drama and Eliot gave a little stage clap, proud of the way that Quentin had handled it. Quentin just ignored him though and walked past with a melancholic air about him. 

They made it back to the school and had the cottage to themselves as they sat, drinking wine, on the couch and commiserated. Kady was trying to get in the door, but Eliot had locked it and refused to help. He wasn’t ready for this moment to end. His eyes kept raking over Quentin’s body, even as he tried to get him to accept things. He hadn’t planned on making a move on the first year so soon, but had just decided that maybe it would help. “Tell you what,” he said as he reached forward to grab the wine bottle. “Let’s not talk,” he said with just a hint of suggestion as he leaned over Quentin to unnecessarily refill his glass. He was just deciding if he wanted to go for it or not when the door suddenly exploded, causing them both to jump and Eliot nearly fell off the couch. It seemed that Kady had found her way in after all. 

Eliot gave a long suffering sigh. “Never mind that.” He turned to Kady. “Now you’re with your people,” he said graciously pouring her a glass of wine. He went to sit back down next to Quentin, but Kady had other ideas. She could guess what had been going on in here and decided to get her revenge by sliding past him and sitting next to Quentin herself. Eliot gave her a look, but didn’t make an issue of it as he sat on her other side.


	4. Chapter 4

A few weeks later, Quentin woke extremely confused. He couldn’t figure out where he was or why he wasn’t at Brakebills. He made his way into the hallway and couldn’t help the relief he felt when he saw Eliot. That relief quickly evaporated though when he realized how strange he was acting. Sure Eliot was big on touching, but pawing at him like that? That was a new one. Not to mention when he grabbed Quentin’s hand and started running it down his body, that was very unlike Eliot. It was almost as if someone had made an exaggerated parody of him. 

When he realized that he was in a metal hospital he refused to believe it. He had finally started getting comfortable with the idea that his new life wasn’t just a dream. That it wasn’t going to disappear on him, and now this. He wouldn’t even let himself consider it. It had to be a spell or a test. He felt a brief surge of hope when Alice sat down and started talking about breaking the illusion, but he quickly realized that she was crazy too. 

He came up with a plan to summon Penny; the real Penny, not the idiotic janitor in this madhouse; using the song that he hated so much. Penny had said that he would come into his mind and rip it out if he didn’t get it out of his head. He knew that whatever this spell was he couldn’t break it from the inside. It didn’t seem to have worked though and before long he got a visit from Julia. He tried, unsuccessfully, to convince her of the truth, but then she slipped up. She mentioned the fireworks that he had created, but he’d never told her what the spell did. Then her face seemed to flicker for a moment and a cruel laugh pulled from her lips for a moment before she schooled herself again. She acted like he had imagined the whole thing though. 

The longer he was here, the more it was weighing him down. What if they were right? What if Brakebills was the fantasy and he had filled it with the people he knew from the hospital; Eliot and Alice and the dean? The idea that he was crazy was a lot less farfetched than the idea that there was a hidden school for magic in upstate New York where he had been studying to me a magician after all. He reluctantly accepted the pills they gave him and they pulled him into a downward spiral. He had no idea what was real and what wasn’t anymore. 

It seemed like weeks before, as Julia was leaving from another visit, Penny finally showed up. The real Penny that is. Quentin didn’t really believe it at first. Couldn’t believe it. He felt like he was in a fog and his mind wouldn’t work right. When Penny slammed him against the wall though, he finally felt something and it felt far more real than anything here and he knew. He finally had his answer. He wasn’t crazy. Brakebills was real and he had to get back there. He told Penny to go find him and wake him up. Penny looked at him like he was crazy for a minute and damnit Quentin was sick of that look, but finally Penny left or woke up or something. He only hoped that Penny would do as he asked and find his body. 

 

The first place Penny went, obviously, was the cottage. Eliot wasn’t too concerned though. “It was a party. He’s probably sleeping it off under something…or someone,” he drawled. 

Kady came in at that point and after making an excuse as to her whereabouts she asked, “What’s up?” 

“Your loverman thinks our little Q got roofied last night,” Eliot said skeptically. 

Penny started suggesting other places to check but Kady spoke up. “I know where he is.” She led them to a closet and pulled back some coats that were thrown over him lying that she had seen him crawl in there and pass out. No one could know that she was the one who dragged him in there. 

Penny slapped his face a few times trying to wake him up and Eliot couldn’t keep the concern from his face when Quentin didn’t stir. “Well he’s breathing. That’s something,” he said more to convince himself than anyone else. 

After Kady tried some sort of magic to wake him up she said, “This is bad.”

“How bad?” Penny asked. 

“We need to tell the dean bad,” Eliot said nervously. 

 

Eliot levitated him to the dean’s office as quickly as he could and when the Dean said that no one could break the spell, Eliot’s grip tightened on his crossed arms as he tried to remember how to breathe. He breathed a sigh of relief when Dean Fogg said that there was something that could break it and he watched in awe as the wards around the school dropped so that they could summon the matarise. He watched nervously as the gold scorpion was placed on Quentin’s face and the dean gave a short chant. He couldn’t help but ask, trying to keep his voice even, “That’s the answer?” 

When Dean Fogg explained that it would only work halfway and Quentin would have to do the rest himself, he realized that they were going to be relying on Penny to help him and he couldn’t quite get over his discomfort at that. Sure the guy had seemed genuinely worried when Quentin was missing, but he was still the guy who had tried to get him kicked out of school and treated him and everyone else like trash. He just hoped that Penny would actually help him. 

Eliot could barely watch while Quentin choked as the thing crawled into his mouth and supposedly burrowed into his brain. He knew how dangerous this could be and desperately hoped that the dean knew what he was doing here. He didn’t know what he would do if Quentin was lost to them. He had been doing his best to tamp down the icy fear that had his stomach all tied up in knots, and while he was mostly able to keep it from showing, he still felt it. 

When Penny came back and Quentin didn’t wake up, he shifted nervously, and when the dean said that it wasn’t working, he had to remind himself how to breathe again. It wasn’t long after that when the hedgebitch came in and admitted that she had cast the spell and wanted to fix it. Too little too late. Eliot moved around the back of the couch to put some distance between them before he did something that would get him kicked out of school. He had never been so tempted to throw some battle magic around. When she tried to say that it was just supposed to be a joke, Eliot’s blood boiled. He gripped the back of the couch tightly as he snapped, “Bullshit. You wanted to get even.” She started crying for someone to help him and Eliot wanted nothing more than to jump over this couch and claw her nasty little eyes out. Battle magic was too good for her. He wanted it to be slow and painful. At least, for the moment, his anger was overriding his terror. 

“Do you have any idea where he is right now? Why would you do this?” Penny asked heatedly and Eliot felt a spark of respect growing for the gruff first year. The dean had just started to interrogate Julia about who had helped her when Quentin sat up and spit out the gold scorpion that had wound its way into his head. Eliot finally felt the knot in his stomach unravel as Quentin tried to recover from his coughing fit and he sat on the back of the couch, running his hand over Quentin’s hair soothingly, though whether he was trying to soothe Quentin or himself he wasn’t sure. 

“Someone get this man some brandy,” the dean said wryly. 

“Flying in,” Eliot said heading towards the liquor cabinet, eager to do anything he could to help, but when he turned around he noticed someone missing. “Where’s the hedgebitch?” he asked distastefully. By then the wards were going back up though and no one else seemed to care all that much. Eliot vowed that if he ever saw her again she wouldn’t get off so easy, whether Quentin still considered her a friend or not, he would kill the bitch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're starting to head a little off the garden path in this chapter as things pick up so I hope you guys like it.

Quentin was glad that Alice had come back. He felt bad about what happened to her brother, but couldn’t regret his actions. He could see the magic getting to be too much for her. He knew that she was going to go the same way as Charlie if he didn’t kill her first, so he did what needed to be done. He had no idea what to say to her though. Luckily he didn’t have to flounder for long due to Eliots impeccable timing. 

Eliot could see Quentin’s discomfort and only part of the reason he ran over to them was to ask about Genji. He sidled up close to Quentin for support as he changed whatever subject they had been talking about. Once he was sure that Quentin had gotten his bearings again, he turned and went after the old woman, like he had been about to before he noticed Quentin’s difficulty. 

Quentin mingled around a bit and found himself completely baffled at how someone who knew about magic and had studied magic could become something as mundane as a podiatrist so he did the same thing he did when anything about this world confused him. He brought it up to Eliot. 

“This isn’t middle earth Quentin. There aren’t enough noble quests to go around,” he said in a long suffering voice. It was funny how even when Eliot was making fun of him, it was done in such a way that he didn’t feel bad or foolish. He felt like he was being let in on a joke rather than being made the butt of one. 

“Impress a good mentor and you won’t have to worry,” Margo suggested. 

“How am I supposed to impress anyone?” Quenin asked self-deprecatingly. 

“When you’re not impressive? I’m glad you asked. Welters,” she said cheerfully, pulling a groan from Eliot. Eliot and Margo tried to explain the game to Quentin, and he hated disagreeing with Eliot, especially when he seemed so miserable, but he had to admit it sounded like a lot of fun. Quentin wasn’t sure whether he was surprised or not when Margo insinuated that he would be picked for their team. There were a lot of upper years who likely knew more than he did, but they were friends. It seemed like her to choose friends rather than people she didn’t like. 

In the end she chose him and Eliot of course, along with Alice. No surprise there. He was most surprised that she chose Kady for their fifth, but Margo said that she had talent and plenty of ingenuity which was, strangely, pretty rare here at Brakebills. 

Quentin’s mind went a whole different direction when he found out about his dad though. Eliot got wrapped up in his little competition with Margo over the attentions of Genji, so didn’t notice how bad off Quentin was, and Quentin wasn’t going to go running to Eliot every time he needed a hug. By the time the tournament rolled around Quentin was a mess. It wasn’t until they were taking the field that Eliot noticed that there was something off about him and he kept glancing worriedly at him. 

When Quentin missed his cue and Margo had to yell at him to get his attention, Eliot gave an amused chuckle at her colorful language, partly to cover up his concern. He groaned along with the rest when Quentin hit the center square, the hardest one on the board, but he was suitably impressed with the first year’s black hole spell. “Quentin are you controlling this?” he yelled in awe over the ruckus. He could tell that Quentin had complete control, but apparently not everyone could since Alice ran up to him and cast her own spell to shut it down. It probably hadn’t been the wisest spell to do indoors since it destroyed the roof, but it cleared the entire board and won them the game so it was worth it. It likely caught the attention of quite a few potential mentors as well. 

The party that night was insane, but Quentin wasn’t really into it. Eliot was going to go talk to him, but Margo beat him to it. Eliot frowned as Quentin seemed, if anything, more depressed after talking to Margo. He wasn’t sure he could have done much better though under the circumstances. It was hard for Eliot to understand being upset about a sick parent. His own parents had been brutal and cruel, and wasted no time throwing him out the second he was old enough to be emancipated. Margo’s weren’t much better, so neither of them were really qualified to help him through this. 

Eliot had been sitting with Alice, trying to give her some pointers on drinking when Quentin came over and dragged him off. “How can I help you sir?” Eliot asked mock-seriously. 

“What do you know about cancer puppy?” Quentin asked quickly. 

Eliot led him to the back and pulled out the little carrier and introduced him to the eternal puppy that was like their mascot. Quentin could tell how much Eliot loved the puppy and really hoped this spell worked. Eliot seemed skeptical, but freely helped him with the preparations. When the preparations were complete and Quentin cast the spell, the puppy barked out a whine and fell over dead. “Oh no,” Quentin said regretfully. 

Eliot took a deep breath before he put a hand on Quentin’s shoulder. “It was always a long shot.”

“Then why did you let me do it then?” Quentin asked heartbroken, not only that he had killed the puppy, but also that he wouldn’t be able to cure his father. 

“Because I have faith in you Quentin. If anyone could pull it off you could,” Eliot told him. 

“Yeah well, maybe you should find someone better to believe in,” he said angry with himself. “I’m so sorry.”

“Maybe it’s better this way. He’s not suffering anymore, and at least he had a chance,” Eliot tried to make him feel better, both about cancer puppy and about his father. 

“That doesn’t make it any easier,” Quentin said sadly, knowing that they weren’t talking about the dog anymore. 

“No. I don’t imagine it does,” Eliot said squeezing Quentin’s shoulder and making a vow to himself to try to find something that would help. 

Quentin made the decision to tell his father about magic and Brakebills. It was highly frowned upon, but not completely against the rules and his father was dying of a brain tumor. Even if he did freak out and try to tell someone, they would never believe him. They would think it was the tumor affecting his mind. Quentin was sure that he could handle it though. That he would be happy for him even. He seemed like he really wanted to know that Quentin was okay. That he was going to be happy. 

When he put the plane back together for his father and told him that he was going to school to learn magic, not finance, his father was silent for a good long time, trying to wrap his head around it. “So you do magic. Real magic,” he said in awe. 

“Yeah,” Quentin said with a nervous smile.

“And there are other people who can do this too. And you’re going to a whole school dedicated to it.” Quentin nodded. “Can they do anything?” he asked hopefully. 

Quentin sighed sadly and looked down. “No. They can’t. I’ve tried. Checked with everyone, even the most experimental stuff. I even tried the only experimental spell that there was. It had never been tried before because it was too dangerous and took too much power, but I tried it anyway and…um…well…I killed a puppy.”

His dad smiled softly. “It’s okay curly q. I know you did your best. So tell me more about this school. Do you have a lot of friends there? Are you happy?” 

Quentin managed an almost real smile at that. “Yeah dad. I’m happy. I have some of the best friends, though they’re a little eccentric.” 

“I’d like to meet them. You know…before I go,” he said hopefully. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Quentin promised. It was such a small request and he was sure he could convince Margo and Eliot at least to visit him. 

Quentin stayed for the whole weekend and headed back to school Sunday evening where he was met by an excited Eliot and dragged off to some far corner of the cottage. “So I found something,” he started with a proud grin. “It won’t cure your father, but it will help with the pain and nausea that I’m sure he would have.”

“That’s great. Really. Thanks Eliot,” Quentin said. He would have preferred to cure him, but making the little bit of time he had left as good as it could be was apparently the best he could hope for. 

“So do you think you could…I don’t know…slip him some sleeping pills or something to keep him out while we do the spell?” 

“No need. I told him all about magic and Brakebills,” Quentin said nervously, wondering how Eliot would take that. 

“You did what? Why would you do such a thing?”

“He took it well. He was worried about me. My cover story was that I was studying finance and he was talking about how if being a magician made me happy then that’s what he wanted me to do. Of course, he was talking about slight of hand type magician stuff, but still. He’s dying. I wanted to give him that piece of mind,” Quentin tried to justify himself. 

“So he’s not all freaked and wanting to have you committed?” Eliot asked shocked. 

“Nope. In fact, he wants to meet some of my friends from here,” Quentin said with a hopeful grin. 

“Well that settles it. The spell I found takes at least two people, preferably three, so you, me, and Margo will go see him next weekend,” Eliot said clapping his hands happily. “Now come, darling. I need a drink.” Eliot wrapped an arm around Quentin’s shoulders and led him to the bar, whipping up something for both of them. 

For the first time in a while, Quentin actually had hope.


	6. Chapter 6

Margo made a show of being disgruntled at having been volunteered for something, but she would never refuse. Even if it did mean taking some of her free time to learn an immensely complicated spell. She did, however, corner Eliot a few days later. “Why are you doing this Eliot?” she asked. Once again, she knew the answer, she just wanted him to admit it. 

“Doing what, darling?” he asked lazily as he lounged back on the couch. 

“You know what. Spending extra time in the library, looking up arcane spells, spending a boring afternoon casting the spell and spending time with a sick old man, all of it,” she clarified smugly. 

“Q needs help. I’m helping,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“And why does that matter so much to you?” she asked expectantly. 

“He’s our friend. It doesn’t matter to you?” Eliot tried to deflect the question. 

“Eliot,” Margo said firmly, starting to lose her patience. 

Eliot gave a long suffering sigh. “Fine,” he drawled. “He’s special, but you obviously already know that.”

“I do. What I really want to know is why you haven’t done anything about it. You’re not usually shy about going after what you want,” she pointed out. 

“I will.” She raised a skeptical eyebrow and Eliot sighed again. “The trials are coming up. The last big test of whether he gets to stay.”

“And you want to make sure he’ll be sticking around before you make a move?” she figured and got a slow nod from Eliot. She laughed. “You’ve really got it bad.”

“Shut up,” he said aiming a playful kick at her which she deftly avoided before she plopped on the couch next to him. 

 

Soon enough Friday rolled around and the three of them headed out to Quentin’s father’s house. As they walked up to the door Eliot had an arm thrown across Quentin’s shoulders and the other thrown across Margo’s as he laughed at something Margo had said. John Coldwater couldn’t keep the smile from his face at the happiness he could see from all three of them as he opened the door and he could definitely see the eccentricities that Quentin had mentioned, though he expected little less from people at a school of magic. 

Quentin introduced Margo first who daintily took John’s hand and gave a little curtsy saying, “Charmed.” 

Eliot pushed forward and introduced himself. “Eliot. Now I see where our little Q gets his dashing good looks,” he said playfully as he slung his arm back over Quentin’s shoulders and ruffled his hair as John stepped back to let them in. 

They settled on the couch with Quentin in between them. Quentin was the one to pitch the spell to his father who looked a little nervous about the idea. “This isn’t like the spell that killed the dog is it?”

“Oh heavens no,” Eliot chimed in. “This one is tested and approved by healers everywhere.”

“I still can’t believe you killed cancer puppy,” Margo grumbled. 

“Oh hush darling. Can’t you see he already feels bad enough,” Eliot said as he made a show of covering Quentin’s ears and petting his hair. 

John grinned at the easy camaraderie between them and definitely noticed something between Quentin and Eliot. He didn’t know the other boy well enough to know if that was just his personality, but he knew his son and he knew that Quentin was smitten. He never would have pictured him going for a guy, but as long as he was happy, John wasn’t going to complain. He agreed to let them cast the spell on him and Eliot pulled out his bag. He had brought all the needed ingredients and they had to be prepared fresh, so John got to see a little real magic in action, other than the simple spell that Quentin had showed him at first. He was surprised at how involved it could be and when the three of them took positions around his chair, chanting in unison and making identical hand motions he could see the sparks crackling in the air and his nerves increased. The only reason he wasn’t a complete wreck is because he trusted his son and his son obviously trusted the other two. 

The spell took about twenty minutes to cast, not counting the hour it took preparing the ingredients, and by the time it was finished John felt a thousand times better. He hadn’t realized how much pain he was in until it was gone and the constant nausea was lifting as well. “How do you feel dad?” Quentin asked hopefully. 

“Much better now son. Thank you,” he addressed his thanks to all three of the magicians and Eliot and Margo just waved them off in their lazy manner as they settled back on the couch and Quentin beamed happily. He was just glad he could do something to help. “So how long will it last?” he asked curiously. Even an hour was a welcome relief so he didn’t really care. It was still a great gift. 

“Cast by certified healers it lasts a year, but we’re not healers so I don’t know,” Quentin admitted. 

“That’s okay curly q. Even a day would be great,” he said gratefully. 

“Oh…yes…curly q. I love it!” Eliot said with a delighted clap at the new nickname as he pulled Quentin back down on the couch between he and Margo. Quentin rolled his eyes indulgently as they spent the remainder of the afternoon chatting. 

Once it started getting late Eliot stood and pulled Margo to her feet. “We should be getting back. Q darling. You coming?” 

“I…I think I’m gonna stay for a while. I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

Eliot gave a theatrical bow. “As you wish, my liege.” When he got to the door he turned back and put his hand over his heart and started, “Oh parting is such sweet sorrow…” as Margo pulled him out the door and Quentin threw one of the throw pillows from the couch at him laughing along with his father. 

“I see what you mean by eccentric,” he said as his laughter died down. 

“Yeah. They’re real characters,” Quentin said fondly. 

“I like them. Especially that Eliot boy. He’s good for you I think.”

“I…um…what…what do you mean?” Quentin asked nervously. 

“Oh come on kiddo. You can’t hide from me. I see how taken you are with him.”

“I…but…I’m not…” he stuttered as he blushed brightly. Quentin hadn’t realized it was so obvious and just hoped that no one else had noticed. 

“Relax curly q. I approve,” he said earnestly, knowing what Quentin was most worried about. 

“I…um…if…if you see him again…you can’t…I mean…don’t…”

“Mums the word,” John assured him. 

 

A few days later, Quentin found himself being abducted in the middle of the night. He was afraid for a while until he recognized Margo’s voice. Then he was just annoyed. She shuffled him into a clearing with all the other first years that had made it this far. She could have at least let him grab some shoes. When Eliot pulled off his mask on the podium with that Cheshire cat grin, Quentin felt his annoyance start to evaporate. Eliot seemed to be in his element, of course he always was when he was the center of attention. Quentin wondered whether the whole cape and masks thing was tradition or if it was Eliot’s choice. It could go either way really. 

As Eliot gave his speech about the trials, he stepped up close to Quentin, trying to emphasize every point to him especially. Eliot desperately wanted Quentin to pass. He needed Quentin to pass. He eventually tore himself away and went down the line to the other first years as he finished his speech before returning to his place on the stage. 

When he explained the first trial and what they would have to do, he looked directly at Quentin as he said that it was practically impossible. He was trying to get the point across that there was more expected of him than met the eye. He just hoped that he had figured it out. He had grouped him with Penny for a reason after all. 

At the end of the test, he leaned over Quentin’s shoulder inspecting what they had done. His inspection didn’t really matter much, of course, but he wasn’t going to pass up any chance to be so close to Quentin, especially since it might be the last time. Penny was impatient though so he relented and lit the brazier. A proud grin blossomed on his face as he rested a hand on Quentin’s shoulder and praised them even as the third person of their little group disappeared. 

Eliot couldn’t stomach the idea of drugging Quentin, so he sent Margo to do it instead. It was made easier by the fact that he was currently hiding himself away from the party, brooding in his room, so there was nothing suspicious about one of them coming in to check on him. Eliot made sure to be the one there when he woke though. This had been done countless times with countless first years, but he couldn’t resist the urge to see with his own eyes that Quentin was alright. 

He had too much to do and too many other first years to visit to linger long though, so he explained the task and went on his way. He had set up these groups for Quentin’s benefit as well though, knowing that everyone in the group was at least familiar and reasonably friendly with him. He and Penny couldn’t exactly be called friends, but after helping Quentin out of the spell that trapped him in his mind, they had dropped hostilities for the most part. 

Once they had completed the task, Eliot and Margo just had to tease them a bit. Just a little bit of Eliot’s manic laughter after that was from relief that Quentin had passed the second trial. He knew that the third would be the most difficult, as well as the hardest one for him to stomach. The idea of Quentin being naked with someone else and sharing secrets bothered him a lot more than it should, and he wished that he could take part and be his partner. 

Quentin was also wishing the same, but given the choices, he was glad that he got paired with Alice. At least she would be as awkward and shy about it as he was. They both spent a great deal of time, and alcohol, giving up their deepest secrets. Quentin had even admitted that he was in love with Eliot, but nothing worked. It was the last second, after he had already given up, before he found the truth that he was supposed to be sharing. That even now that he had everything he’d ever dreamed of, he still hated himself, and still had to fight the urge to run away. 

Eliot watched the twelve geese fly away and lifted a glass, just hoping that one of those was Quentin. He would know when they came back through the portal tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

During the month they spent in Antarctica, the hardest part for Quentin was missing Eliot. It had been explained that they were basically in an altered time zone so less than a day will have passed by the time they returned, but it didn’t make it any easier to bear. Somehow he made it through, and was beyond pleased to see Eliot waiting for him as he stepped back through the portal to the campus. 

Eliot laughed and swung Quentin into a hug before ruffling his hair. “I knew you could do it,” he said happily as he slung an arm over Quentin’s shoulders and led him back to the cottage to get the party started. He had begged off the preparations so that he could come and retrieve whoever made it back. 

Quentin noticed Eliot hanging on him more than usual that night and didn’t mind a bit. He had been going through Eliot withdrawal if that was a thing so gravitated towards him just as much. He had barely caught sight of Margo for some reason though. She had popped up to congratulate him and then disappeared back into the crowd. 

After a few hours, Eliot disappeared too, and Quentin definitely felt his absence so he went looking for him. He found him standing outside in the dark at the side of the cottage, leaning against the wall and puffing on a cigarette. “So how come you’re brooding out here all by yourself?” Quentin asked leaning against the wall next to him. 

“I am not brooding,” he drew out the word. “I’m thinking.”

“Bout what?” Quentin asked curiously. 

Eliot was silent for a while and Quentin wondered if he was going to answer at all. Eliot was trying to think of some grand plan to seduce Quentin, but he could hardly tell him that. Finally he just couldn’t help himself anymore. He had been waiting months for this after all, and waiting long enough to come up with something and execute it was just not going to happen, so he pushing himself off the wall, threw his cigarette to the side, and stepped right up to Quentin. “The best way to do this,” he said as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Quentin’s. 

Quentin froze for a moment, not sure if this was really happening or if it was just his elaborate fantasy playing out in his head because of too much liquor. Then he wondered if Eliot was just doing this because he was drunk. Then he realized that Eliot and he had been drunk together more times than he could count, and this had never happened before so it must not be that. By the time all the had rolled through his head, Eliot pulled back and sighed as he turned and started heading back to the house. 

“Eliot wait,” he said as he grabbed his wrist to stop him leaving. 

“Don’t worry about it, Quentin. Had to give it a shot is all,” Eliot said trying to brush it off like it meant nothing that Quentin hadn’t kissed him back. 

“Come on Eliot. I’m drunk. You gotta give my brain a minute to catch up,” Quentin protested. 

Eliot raised an eyebrow and gave a hopeful smirk. “Brain all caught up now?” he asked. 

“Y-yeah,” Quentin said nervously. 

Eliot moved close to him again, bracing one arm on the wall behind Quentin. “So I should try again?” 

Quentin’s heart was beating a mile a minute and he couldn’t find the breath to answer so he just nodded slowly and this time when Eliot’s lips met his, Quentin kissed him back with everything he had, darting his tongue out to deepen it as his hands moved to Eliot’s waist. 

Encouraged by the response, Eliot pressed up against him, pinning him tightly against the wall as he kissed him senseless. Once they broke for air, Eliot rested his forehead against Quentin’s twirling a lock of Quentin’s hair around his finger. “Mmm. Wanted to do that for so long,” he whispered. 

“Why…why didn’t you then?” Quentin asked, still trying to clear his head. 

“The trials. Had to be sure you were sticking around,” Eliot told him. 

That told Quentin all he needed to know about how serious Eliot was. He knew enough of the older boy’s exploits to know that he never cared if someone was sticking around or not. In fact, it generally was preferred that they weren’t. The fact that he wanted to be sure that Quentin would stay before he tried anything betrayed far more of his feelings than Eliot would have been comfortable with if he had realized. 

Eliot had made his move. The next move was Quentin’s. They stood there like that for a few minutes, forehead to forehead, Eliot twirling Quentin’s hair as Quentin’s hands stayed on Eliot’s waist, thumbs tracing circles over his sides before Quentin tilted his head forward again and pulled Eliot into another kiss. His arms wrapped around Eliot’s waist pulling him tightly against him as Eliot’s hands tangled in Quentin’s hair and they lost themselves in each other. 

The next time they broke for air, Eliot’s lips moved to Quentin’s neck and Quentin tilted his head to give him better access. “I’ve wanted this for so long too,” Quentin whispered into the darkness. 

“Hmm? How long?” Eliot mumbled distractedly against Quentin’s neck. 

“Since…Since I first…first saw you,” Quentin stuttered out, partially from embarrassment and partially from the fact that his brain was rapidly shutting down in the passion of the moment. 

“Mmm. Same,” Eliot murmured not pausing in his attentions as he found a particularly sweet spot that made Quentin gasp in pleasure and tighten his grip on Eliot. 

“Should we…maybe…um…go inside…up…upstairs?” Quentin asked hopefully. 

“Mmm. I like the way you think darling,” Eliot said finally pulling back and grabbing Quentin’s hand dragging him inside and up the stairs. 

No one paid them more than a passing glance as they made their way through the party. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon sight to see one of them dragging the other somewhere after all and most everyone was too drunk to care. Margo was the only one who noticed their grins and disheveled appearances as they wound their way towards the bedrooms and she gave a satisfied smirk. It was about time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one is a little short, but there will be an add-on posted separately continuing things in the bedroom :)


End file.
